“When Bergdahl snuck away, we were all aware that he was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, so to speak; but they were very deadly crumbs. By asking who spoke English as he fled and directly asking where he could find the Taliban, he was ensuring that the Taliban could ambush our men looking for him and plant IEDs along the way as they moved him from one location to another. Every time we’d get close, our soldiers would get hit by machine gun fire or blown up with IEDs that could’ve only been placed by terrorists using Bergdahl as a lure. It was clear that Bergdahl not only had deserted during wartime but was actually was collaborating with the enemy. Many of us had heard how he hated America and the military. He thought we were clowns and evil. The media is reporting that six soldiers were killed looking for him? Sadly, it’s way more than that. Try 40 or 60 or 100.” –Jimmy

“Bergdahl left us early in the morning hours while it was dark. He defected under the cover of darkness; and don’t you know, by 10 or 11, they already had us and everybody else frantically searching for him. As soon as he was discovered missing, the military commanders in eastern Afghanistan immediately stopped all combat operations, bought in all resources including drones, F-18s, F-15s, and raised the troop strength through the roof to look for this deserter; we couldn’t believe it. We knew we were walking into Taliban traps using this crazy traitor as a lure; it was ridiculous. Didn’t they know he was crazy and had defected? Wouldn’t they have thought ‘a lot of our men could die looking for this wing-nut?'” –Ron

“Bergdahl was an active traitor who collaborated with the enemy getting American soldiers killed. This White House and the State (and) Defense departments, the CIA, and Pentagon knew this and actively hid it from the media and American people. This White House, Secretaries Panetta, Clinton, (and) Kerry, CIA Director Petraeus, and now Hagel are all complicit in both the original defection and now this cover-up and trade. It’s the same damn thing they did in Benghazi.” –Pentagon official

This video gives the reader of what it was like fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan:

“In the time since Bergdahl’s defection, the Pentagon, CIA and other US military intelligence agencies have confirmed he deserted during wartime and then collaborated with the enemy. He was a traitor not simply AWOL or DUSTWIN. But the WH has brought unbelievable pressure on these agencies not to release any info and keep it classified Top Secret. Threats to careers and families have been typical and ongoing.”

“We were told that the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance were unknown, so to be prepared for him to resist and fight back. Strangely, he was particularly good with knives; and they warned us about that. We figured, ‘come at us with a knife, Bergdahl; and you’ll get the M-4.’ We were prepared to take him out if we had to. That’s why all this trade for terrorists is such a big lie. This guy was actively trying to kill Americans. His hatred for America was so well known.” –Jimmy

“We did not want to be out looking for him as it was extremely dangerous and we knew he didn’t want to be found. We thought it was ridiculous for us to be sent out looking for Bergdahl and subjected to ambushes and IED explosions. Everywhere we went, suspicious engagements would occur; and guys were getting hurt or killed.” –Ron

“Initial reports from the villagers as we began searching for him told us they thought he was ‘intoxicated’ or ‘high.’ We knew this meant he had really gone off the deep end, and was not high on hash or drugs as witnesses that day and the media has implied over the years. He was acting weird long before that day, and we’d never seen him stoned.” –Jimmy

“The more we looked for him, the more we realized we were being had by our government and superiors, who just kept sending us out on this ‘fool’s mission’ that was getting our guys killed. Everywhere we went, we were being told ‘the American was running away and hiding; he doesn’t want to be found except by the Taliban. He was asking for them urgently.’ Pretty quickly, we started going through the motions because we knew he was an active defector who was an enemy collaborator.” –Ron

When I was told by “Jimmy,” who was with Bergdahl, “A handful of soldiers were killed looking for him? Try 40 or 60 or 100,” I immediately thought, nobody really knows what the right number is; but it is tragic.

Now, wanting to ‘look at the numbers’ of US forces KIAs (Killed in Action) in Afghanistan (AFG) both before and after his traitorous defection, I performed a simple statistical analysis.

While the Pentagon has said there was “no connection” between Bergdahl’s defection and an increased number of American troops killed, and the NY Times said “a murky connection, at best,” I smelled a rat. This was because of the recent White House efforts to claim that fewer than six soldiers were killed searching for Bergdahl–and the way they scrambled to support their lies. These numbers are mind-blowing. Saddening. And very tragic.

In looking at these numbers, I’m aware that some might become desensitized to what these numbers really represent. We forget that we’re talking about real American heroes here … with real Americans back here at home who are fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers … grandparents and aunts and uncles … wives, sons, and daughters … and friends and family of all description, who will be grieving for the rest of their lives—which will be changed forever because of these losses of their loved ones’ lives defending our liberty, our flag, and America. I don’t want us to forget.

Bergdahl defected on June 30, 2009

In the 30 days prior, there were 24 American KIAs in AFG. In the next month of July after he left his base, 44 KIAs were reported, an increase of 83% in just one month. Here are some of the stunning numbers:

US Forces killed in AFG

June 2009: 24 KIA before Bergdahl defected

July 2009: 44 KIA after Bergdahl defected (83% increase)

August 2009: 51 KIA (more than 100% increase)

September 2009: 37 KIA

October 2009: 59 KIA

*These numbers are not seasonal … I checked.

–In the four months prior to the Bergdahl defection, 55 Americans were KIA in AFG. In the four months following his defection, 191 Americans were KIA, an increase of 347%–almost quadrupling.

–In the year after the defection, American troop KIAs more than doubled, from 153 KIA in 2009 to 310 KIA in 2010.

–In the 93 months the US had forces in Afghanistan before Bergdahl’s defection, only 25 of those months had double-digit numbers of KIAs. In the 61 months so far after Bergdahl’s defection, conversely, only 8 months had single-digit KIA’ totals, with the majority of these deadly monthly numbers in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and even 70’s of American’ soldiers’ lives’ lost.

2001 KIAs=7 2008 KIAs=153

2002 KIAs=30 2009 KIAs=153

2003 KIAs=33 2010 KIAs=310

2004 KIAs=49 2011 KIAs=412

2005 KIAs=93 2012 KIAs=301

2006 KIAs=88 2013 KIAs=120

2007 KIAs=111 2014 KIAs=12 (thus far)

—In the entire war in AFG, since we went in late 2001, many more Americans were KIA AT (After Traitor) rather than BT (Before Traitor).

American KIAs in AFG BT=564

American KIAs in AFG AT=1,308

(An increase of 231%)

And according to my Pentagon source, “this lying government cannot simply say that most of those were killed in ‘other operations’ or the ‘surge’ rather than looking for Bergdahl because for the first several months, almost all of the American forces in Eastern AFG were directed to look for Bergdahl.” Those tragic increases in KIAs in the first few months after the defection must all be placed at the altar of ‘Looking for Bergdahl.’

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Relentless Bill Robinson’s Wikipedia Bio can be found here. Taking a keen interest in Business, Entrepreneurship, Technology and Politics, Bill is also the author and writer of “The Relentless Conservative” column on The Huffington Post. He recently began writing the new “American Hero Stories” column on HuffPo because he believes that none of us has enough respect for our brave US military and their families.

Bill lives in New York and has written columns, articles and cover stories for Fortune Small Business, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Financial Times, Forbes.com, The Moscow Times, United Airline’s Hemispheres Magazine and Upside Magazine, amongst many others. He has appeared frequently on CNN, PBS, Bloomberg, BBC World and had his own segment on SKY News. Bill’s “TechScape” column in the The Huffington Post has won broad accolades and his “On Location” columns for Upside won multiple prestigious ASBPE awards and gave him an understanding and love of global technology.